Twin Sun Heatstroke

[Gatz Duolingo]

Anchorhead, Tatooine​

​

Gatz hated Tatooine more than he hated R4-A1. Sure, the astromech was spiteful, unhelpful, inappropriate, hazardous, and prone to using colorful language, but at least the rust bucket didn't roast him alive in his own ship. The same, however, could not be said for Tatooine's binary stars. Their luminosity practically super heated the metal hull of The Shooting Star, and with the freighters life support systems having shorted out, the YTA-1300's interior was hotter than the desert outside.

And of course, they were grounded until repairs were made. And of course, Gatz had work on the ship to do, thanks to R4, who had shorted out the holoterminal in the common room.

Dammit. Maybe he did hate R4 more than he hated Tatooine.

So here he was, dressed in the thinnest tank top he had, compression shorts, and sand shoes, still sweating from every pore on his body. His shirt was entirely soaked through, not from effort, but from the sheer humidity of the air. It seemed like every ten seconds he was wiping sweat off his brow, so that it wouldn't drip into his eyes and blind him. It was unbelievably frustrating, and now that he had a proper crew, he couldn't vent by hitting something.

Especially with [member="Drexia Locke"] around. The mechanic wasn't at all threatening, but she took proper ship maintenance very seriously, and he feared the wrath he might face if she ever found him abusing his ship.

Thankfully, his job was one rewire from being complete. His hands deftly twisted two hanging copper wires together, and the holoterminal came to life with a dull hum. Gatz let out a relieved breath, and carefully replaced the panel he'd pulled off of the base of the terminal.

With his part of the repairs finished, Gatz began to search the ship for Drexia, grimacing as he heard the slick noise of his drenched shirt rub against his skin.

"Drex, by the Force, please tell me you're almost finished! I think I'm in the beginning stages of a heatstroke! Also have you seen [member="Ay Ge"]? Because I haven't, and considering she likes to wear black, I'm kind of worried that she keeled over."

 

[Drexia Locke]

She'd warned him something like this would happen the second she set foot on The Shooting Star. Sure, it'd been in far better condition than The Mercy, the dying ship he'd rescued her and a few others from, but not by very much. In her and Rika's opinion, anyway. However, when she set on foot on the ship that day she had no possible way of telling that the mechanical issues with this ship were this bad. She'd just survived a ship with failing life support! This was beginning to be a trend! One that she didn't much care for.

To top it off, the ship picked, potentially, one of the worst planets to break down on. Much like her new captain, Drexia was wearing as little clothing as humanly possible while still being safe. Which meant she was doing the repairs in, practically, her underwear at this point. A tanktop, her panties, and her boots to be exact. Her stomach needed to be covered while she worked because she was leaning against hot metal or she'd likely be wearing even less. She was definitely not winning a fashion show, though.

On the one hand abusing the ship was frowned upon by her but considering the fact that they were already in horrible need of repairs the only real reason she'd hate for him it was because it would mean they'd be here longer because there would potentially need to be more repairs done and the sooner they got off this sauna of a planet, the better.

She didn't stop what she was doing when Gatz came into the room she was working in. Mostly because if she looked up to acknowledge him it meant potentially getting electrocuted and on top of that he wouldn't be able to tell she was looking at him anyway. Why was that? Probably because she was halfway inside the panel she was working on, her lower half dangling out of it, feet barely touching the ground. More than likely the best position for any pervert to take advantage but that was the furthest thing from the engineer's mind as she worked on getting them out of here.

"I'm nearly done, sir, I promise." A hand reaches out of panel and points at a tool that she, apparently, knows it there and just can't seem to reach. She points. "Hand me that, please?" She holds her hand out, palm up, awaiting the tool and once the tool is in hand it disappeared back inside the panel. "As for Ay... I haven't seen anything but metal and wires since I climbed in here so, no, I haven't seen her.... Sorry."

As ill-advised as alcohol was when you were possibly battling heatstroke she could really use a hard and cold beverage when she was done with this repair.

 

[Ay Ge]

Ay was not fond of Tatooine, to many potential attackers on the loose, and though usually not very cared about, still under the rule of the Galactic Empire, which meant the possibility of inquisitors and other force users. Was that a problem for her, no, Ay force sensitivity was, odd to say the least, making it very hard to sense but Gatz was a different story and the last thing she wanted was some inquisitor coming around trying to con him into joining the Empire, failing and then a fight breaking out. [Internal temperature reaching above average perimeters, distributing localized coolant].

The womanly voice chirping out of Ays cybernetic exo-armor for what seemed like the 5 time so far, the cold artificial coolant running though the extremities of said armor, returning her ore temperature to that of a regular human. Perhaps standing on top of the freighter in broad day light was not the best idea, but she could not think of a better vantage point, then again if she was not in top fighting condition she would not be able to protect the crew member form a possible attack. "Time, 1321, ceasing perimeter patrol", with the small assassin jumped from the top of the ship, landing next to Gatz and Drexia as they went about fixing the ship, unaware that the captain had been looking for her. "Inquiry, what is the progress on the ships repair"?

[member="Drexia Locke"] l [member="Gatz Duolingo"]

 

[Gatz Duolingo]

Gatz found her, as he expected, working right outside of the engine room. What he definitely didn't expect to find, however, was Drexia bent over in a crawl duct, with only her panty-clad rear sticking out. His eyes practically popped out of his head, and he had to turn away for a second just so that he could breath properly. Gatz, very obviously, was aware of the heat, but even he had deigned to wear something decent! His mechanic, on the other hand, was literally half naked, for all to see.

He wasn't sure whether to thank the Force, or curse it.

He didn't get the chance to do either, instead opting to shake his head as Drexia addressed him formally, "Drex, I'm a Jedi dropout and a smuggler, not a politician. 'Gatz' is fine."

Gatz picked up the fusioncutter from the ground, and placed it in Drexia's waiting hand, wondering if he should have vocalized that tidbit of his history. Sure, they were safely inside the ship, but he still didn't know Drexia very well. That, and he was sure Ay would voice her disapproval about his openness. Gatz, of all people, knew how stupid it was to drop a bomb like that on anyone.

As he sat down (noting that the flooring of the ship was oddly cool), placing his back against the paneling of the ship, his eye caught something completely baffling. He opened his mouth to speak up.

"Drexia, how in the world are you wearing actual boots right now?"

Gatz had abandoned his in his quarters, as they were just too hot, and had instead opted for a thin pair of canvas slip-ons. And sure, maybe it was an incredibly dumb thing to be so bewildered over, but he blamed the heat. It had already made him lightheaded, so why couldn't it have addled his mind as well?

Ay jumped down almost immediately after he questioned the mechanic, but Gatz didn't even jump. It was too hot to move in a panic.

"Oh, hey Ay. Good to see you're not dead. Drex is almost done."

His head flopped back against the panel.

[member="Drexia Locke"]​

 

[Drexia Locke]

Either the engineer wasn't aware of how inappropriate her state of dress was or she just didn't care. It was, potentially, a mixture of the two though it was likely the latter. Too damn hot to care or worry about decency. "Right. Gatz. Sorry. I gotta get used to it." Unlike him who was already shortening her name to Drex. Which she didn't really might at all. It wasn't the first time someone did and it probably wouldn't be the last.

She continued to work, not making a big fuss over his reveal of his past. It didn't change much of anything for her. Other than, him wanting her to use his first name. She took the fusioncutter and got to work with it. The sounds muffled by the panel as she got this hunk of junk fixed. "Hm? Nothing else has the proper non-slip bottom. I didn't wanna get hurt. Besides, my feet are always cold, anyway." At least since that stasis pod, anyway.

Drexia doesn't stop when Ay drops back into the ship and she lets Gatz do the talking for her as she finishes up the last thing and then slides out from inside the crawl duct just as the telltale sounds of the life support coming back online sound. She sprawls out on her back on the floor and lets her eyes fall shut. "Should be good to go, now. I'd very much like a cold shower and a stiff drink. I think I've earned it."

[member="Ay Ge"]

 

[Ay Ge]

Ay eyed, kind of odd to say, Gatz and Drexia in her usual droid like manner upon coming inside the ship, noting the way both looked externally tired, hot and sweaty both wearing the minimal amount of clothing without becoming incident, well from records counted as being indecent. As of now Drexia was very close to passing that line, but perhaps thing where different for crew members? Ay did not really know to be honest, perhaps if she was a man her though process would have been different but as of now neither attire of the two seemed off putting.

At Gatz words she became a little confused? why would she be dead? there was not attack on the ship, nor and other threat that would have put her in a life threatening place. "Statement, it is good to see the ship is almost repair, question, could you please elaborate on your words, why would I no long be alive"? She did not detect the usual tone of voice associated with humor or sarcasm, so she had taken is a general saying, but it could have been possible Gatz was to tired to use humor properly.

Her attention turned back to Drexia as she finished the final wiring repairs, something she needed to get around to learning at some point, being good at killing wasn't a skill you could use for many occasion, it didn't sound hard, only that learning would probably be a bit different, brain washing laboratories did not seem to be very common in the outer rim. "Statement, will we be attending the local cantina after everyone is finished washing up"?

[member="Drexia Locke"] l [member="Gatz Duolingo"]

 

[Gatz Duolingo]

Gatz forced his head up and away from the wall, so that he could at least look Drexia in the eyes when he addressed her. The fact that accomplishing such a simple movement felt like a grand feat, was a form of testament to the sheer temperature of the heat radiating inside the ship. And even with the life support up and running again, Gatz knew it would be nearly an hour until the ship had cooled itself down to proper levels. Such was the folly of a freighter, especially one as worn as The Shooting Star. Gatz knew there was only so much Drex could do without new parts.

"Your feet are cold... in one hundred and twenty degree heat? You might..." Gatz blinked and shook his head, feeling a bit dazed, "you might wanna get that checked out. That can lead to blood flow problems or something. I can't quite remember at the moment."

He joined Drexia in flopping on the ground, groaning at the slightly cooler temperature of the metal plating.

"Ay, it's like, melting point hot outside," still on the floor, Gatz looked up at his companion, "and you like to wear black. I was worried that you might have had a heatstroke. But I guess your armor does something about that. And yes, once the ship has cooled down, and we're sure the life support system isn't gonna randomly take a crap, we're gonna go to the cantina."

"Not that I'm worried," Gatz quickly looked back to Drexia, "I'm more than confident in your mechanical skills. I just don't trust this ship to run properly."

[member="Drexia Locke"] | [member="Ay Ge"]​

 

[Drexia Locke]

Drexia wiggled her feet a little bit since they were still talking about them. "I don't know. It's only been since the stasis pod." She frowns. "They're not necessarily cold but they're definitely not as hot as the rest of me." She, with a great amount of effort and some groaning, lifted herself up so she could lean toward her feet and pull off her boots.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. It isn't as though I can easily find a doctor to go to." She says with a shrug. She makes quick work of getting her boots off. "Does sitting under the cold water of the shower and not actually cleaning anything count as 'getting cleaned up?'" She asks with a tilt of her head before she flops back onto the floor and rolls over onto her stomach so she can look at Ay. She glances between him and Gatz, propping her head up on her hands, elbows on the floor.

"It's going to take an hour for this place to get back to proper temperature. Are you sure you want to hang out here while that happens?" Not that it'd be much cooler outside of the ship or in a cantina. But there'd be drinks. And socializing... but it'd also be unacceptable for her to walk around in her underwear. Decisions, decisions.

​

[member="Ay Ge"] | [member="Gatz Duolingo"]​

 

[Ay Ge]

Ay didn't respond or make any vocal comment to the two discussions about Miss Locke's feet and their apparent coldness despite the current atmospheric conditions. Both raised decent points, one not being able to feel temperature difference in their leg could be a potential medical condition, such problems including lack of blood flow or neural path way damage in the feet and if they had been in stasis for as long as they had said, such symptoms may be a possibility. On the other hand, Drexie did have a point, it was not as if the crew was swimming in cash, or anywhere near a decent medical facility, so needlessly worrying about something like this would not get them anywhere. 'Secondary objective, observe the condition of Miss Locke's legs and feet and recommend medical care if need arises'.

She kept an eye on the woman she and the captain flopped onto the ground, being the coolest part of the ship at the current moment, Ay’s attention shifting to the latter at his statement. "Statement, I would say that the actual temperature is 47oC but I have detected sarcasm in your speech pattern, so I will assume it was a joke". She knelt slightly getting a bit closer to Gatz face, a bit worried that he may pass out from the heat himself, "Ture, I wear all black, but said attire would only absorb heat when exposed to direct sunlight as the colour black does not reflect any of the visible spectrum along the electromagnetic spectrum, hence why it is black, but while inside or under shade such reasoning becomes mute". "As for my exo-cyber-suit, yes it does have a self-regulating coolant system, but it requires a cool down time before being reused".

She waited their response to her inquiry about the cantina before continuing, "Approximately one hour until reaching stable temperature would give use a standard amount of time for R&R at the local cantina, I myself do not have any particular preference, though I believe that if we are to disembark the ship that proper attire is in order, more specifically your Miss Locke". Form a practical stand point her current attire was widely considered to be inappropriate for public display, ineffective against the sun’s rays and all in all dirty, "If you two wish it would not be outside my current duties to purchase drinks from the local cantina and deliver them to your here, removing any problems with attire and your current exhausted condition".

[member="Drexia Locke"] l [member="Gatz Duolingo"]